Race Previews

Great Athletes. Great People...

Tuesday, 10 January 2017 23:10

Today we're telling you a little bit about the Top 5 men and women at last year's King Boreas--not a real guy!--Winter Triathlon National Championship. Great athletes. Great people.

1. JOEL LAFRANCE - 1:24:19 - Joel is a decorated nordic skier who became a summer triathlete on the heels of his King Boreas victory. He was nominated for 2016 Minnesota Rookie Triathlete of the Year. He's a really nice guy, too.

2. SEAN COOLEY - 1:25:09 - A recently minted doctor, Sean is a national class summer triathlete. He received four MMA nominations in 2016 and was ranked 2nd on Team MInnesota. Cooley is a veteran of winters tris, having won several of them in his native North Dakota. Also a very nice guy, he has excellent taste in clothes.

3. ANDREW TILMAN - 1:32:00 - We don't much about Andrew, other than he is a skilled classic skier. In 2016 he won the Twin Cities Rennet and placed 3rd at the Seeley Hills Classic. We assume he's a very nice guy, like Joel and Sean....

4. DENNIS CURRAN - 1:32:49 - An all around endurance guy, Dennis skis, does a few tris and runs a lot of road races. He may have attended the University of Michigan, whose football team has the worst helmets ever. They're so bad that most people eventually grow to like them, but can't tell you why.

5. JORDAN ROBY - 1:34:31 - Speaking of nice guys, like the foursome listed above, they don't get much nicer than Jordan, who had his best summer tri year ever in 2016. He even made Team MInnesota. He dates Christina Roberts and their FB pages have lots of pictures of them enjoying stuff together. It's possible that they are in love, like Lisa and Chris, which is a beautiful thing.

WOMEN:

1. JAN GUENTHER, 56 - 1:39:54 (top photo) - A world class amateur nordic skier and summer triathlete. Jan has been one of our favorite people since we first watched her race in 1991 at the Bally Total Fitness Triathlon. She likes to read and eat sweet stuff.

2. CINDI BANNINK, 38 - 1:42:57 - An awesome summer triathlete, she placed 2nd overall in the women's race at Nationals in 2010. She got married in 2016 and we hope that she is very happy because we've known her for almost fifteen years and like her a lot.

3. JEANNE FLECK, 51 - Like Jan,Jeanne is an amazing all-around endurance athlete. She is a former (summer triathlon) Minnesota Rookie of the Year (2007), Master of the Year (2008) and Most Improved (2008). We met her in 2007 and she looks younger today than she did then.

4. CHRISTINA ROBERTS, 29 - 2015 was a breakout year for Christina. As a summer triathlete, she placed 2nd on Team MInnesota and won the Most Improved award. At Tri Night she won EMMA Bingo and bought drinks for many of her friends after the event. In 2016, she was once again nominated for Triathlete of the Year and finished 3rd on Team Minnesota. And she is a super cool person, to boot. She hangs out with Jordan Roby a lot.

5. KITTY EARLE-TORNAINEN, 48 (photo above R) - The only athlete in the Top 5 with a Finnish last name, that should count for something, right? Finns love to ski, and Kitty's nordic split was impressive, as was her fat bike result. She has a paisley headband that she wore at Birkie that is really cool.

We encourage everyone to do this year's race. It's on the 29th of this month. RACE INFO